Greater Greater Washington: Susan Baldinghttps://ggwash.org/contributors/sbalding
Posts by Susan Balding.enThu, 15 Sep 2016 12:16:00 +0000DC is debating a plan that would pay you to walk or bike to workhttps://ggwash.org/view/64825/dc-might-pass-a-plan-that-pays-you-to-walk-or-bike-to-work
https://ggwash.org/view/64825/dc-might-pass-a-plan-that-pays-you-to-walk-or-bike-to-work

Recent data from the 2016 American Community Survey has spoken: at 18.3 percent, DC now has the highest percentage of commuters in the country walking and biking to work, while another 37 percent take transit. However, the way employer benefits are currently set up gives the biggest reward to people who drive. This means more traffic and longer commutes. A proposed bill called “parking cash-out” could give employees the chance to trade in their parking space for extra cash and encourage drivers to explore other commuting options.

Parking cash-out will give more people access to transit benefits

Right now, employers can provide their workers with a tax-free commuting benefit that covers up to $255 a month for parking and another $255 a month for public transit. This means that an employee who takes advantage of both the transit and parking benefit can set aside over $500 of tax-free income toward parking and transit. They can also get a bike benefit — but it’s capped at $20 a month and can’t be combined with the parking or public transit benefit. People who walk to work, meanwhile, are on their own.

While a parking subsidy is not very useful to people who work where parking is free and abundant, the value of it can add up for people driving into a place where parking is at a premium. In parking-scarce areas like downtown DC, the parking subsidy makes driving more attractive for workers — and contributes to more congestion and longer commutes.

DC councilmembers Charles Allen, Mary Cheh, and Brianne Nadeau have introduced a plan to give people an equally strong incentive to bike and walk to work: the Transportation Benefits Equity Act. This bill would require employers of a certain size that already provide their employees with subsidized parking to give their employees the option to trade in that benefit for cash. That means employees who walk or bike would now have the chance to pocket the value of their parking space as taxable income, or use the parking benefit for transit. Employees who drive to work could still use their parking benefits to commute in and park at work.

DC residents already prefer to get to work in ways that don’t rely on driving. This flexible commuter benefit (known as “parking cash-out”) would give these employees an incentive to keep up their habit and encourage more people to walk or bike to work instead. Cheryl Cort, Policy Director at the Coalition for Smarter Growth, estimates that a benefit like the one proposed in the Transportation Benefits Equity Act would lead to a 10 to 12 percent reduction in the number of people driving alone to and from work.

Image used with permission.

Parking cash-out is easy to turn into reality

This bill would be easy to implement because it builds on DC’s Commuter Benefits Law, which requires all employers with 20 or more employees to provide them with the option to use their own pre-tax money to pay for transit. The parking cash-out bill will use the systems employers already have to make to their payroll systems to administer pre-tax benefits under the Commuter Benefits Law. If an employee wants to opt for transit rather than a parking benefit, their benefit would just be switched from parking to transit in the system. If an employee wants to use their parking benefit to walk or bicycle, they would receive the value of the parking space as taxable income.

Proponents point out that the bill could even wind up benefiting employers in the long run. According to the World Resource Institute, converting a non-active employee into a bike commuter saves $3,000 in employer health care costs and reduced absenteeism.

The DC Council is considering passing a parking cash-out bill

The DC Council will hold a hearing on the Transportation Benefits Equity Acton September 25. You can tell the Council you support more incentives to get people biking, walking, or riding transit to work by testifying in person or by sending a letter of support. You can also sign a petition with the Coalition for Smarter Growth.

The vast expanse of concrete and cars that is Pennsylvania Avenue NW west of the White House could become a street with world-class bicycling and pedestrian facilities. This could give DC a fantastic new piece of infrastructure to use as a model for future projects.

If the project gets built, the stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 22nd Street NW and the White House will get wider sidewalks, protected bikeways, and better street crossings. The project also involves building dedicated bus lanes in both directions down H Street.

Right now, this part of Pennsylvania is pretty wide and pretty unfriendly to anyone who isn’t traveling in a car: It has six traffic lanes, not including parking. This means long crossings for pedestrians looking to get from one side of the street to another. Meanwhile, there are zero facilities for cyclists.

This stretch of road is primed for a redesign because some blocks simply don’t have the car traffic necessary to justify so many lanes. Pennsylvania Avenue used to carry more traffic before two blocks in front of the White House were closed after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Today, drivers must turn off of Pennsylvania Avenue onto H and I streets NW instead.

This plan would make Pennsylvania Avenue a haven for pedestrians and bicyclists

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has some pretty grand plans in store for the redesign. The recommended alternative for the street involves two one-way protected bikeways—one running each way down the sides of the street protected from traffic by a concrete median with landscaping. It also involves wider sidewalks and an additional row of trees, which will make for a prettier view down the street.

The protected bikeway itself isn’t the only reason this project it’s so great. It’s the details that really make it: No mixing zones between bicyclists and cars, floating bus stops, and landscaping to protect the bike lane instead of easily demolished (and easy-to-weave-through) flexiposts.

Cars and bikes won’t mix before intersections

A mixing zone along the M Street NW protected bikeway Image by Susan Balding used with permission.

A small but important feature of DDOT’s proposed design is that it doesn’t involve bicycle lanes mixing with traffic lanes before intersections. The protected cycle track will stay protected all the way down the block. This is a huge contrast to say, L and M streets NW, where cyclists suddenly have to veer left into traffic and a painted bike lane to make room for right turn lanes. These so-called “mixing zones” pose problems for drivers who might not understand what’s going on and bicyclists who would rather be in a straight line, and it’s great to see DDOT recommend against them in this project.

Floating bus stops will give bicyclists and transit riders their own space

Another great feature in this design is the floating bus stops. Instead of making bus riders wait on the curb and then cross over the protected bikeways to get on the bus, these floating bus stops would give bus riders a space to wait on and board their bus without holding up cyclists or worrying about getting hit when people wait to board. While they still have to cross the bike lane, they can do so less frequently instead of forming a queue across it when the bus arrives.

Floating bus stops let bus riders board without having to stand in the protected bikeway. Image by Green Lane Project used with permission.

The M Street protected bikeway features a floating bus stop in the West End, and it’s good to see this important piece of protected infrastructure featured in the Pennsylvania Avenue project.

A protected bikeway with actual protection

The final detail that really makes this project stand out is that the bikeways are protected by concrete planters, not plastic flexiposts. Anyone who has biked down the 15th Street cycletrack knows that the flexiposts are pretty easy prey when it comes to cars: they can be knocked over or easily avoided, turning the bikeway into a whole extra lane for cars.

The proposed Pennsylvania Avenue cycletrack would be protected by concrete planters up the entire length, except of course at driveways and intersections. From 19th Street to the White House, the planters will have trees, which will improve the view up the street and offer some shade for cyclists.

These bike facilities are a great direction for DC to head in

At a recent public meeting about the Pennsylvania Avenue and H Street projects, public support for the protected bikeway and expanded pedestrian facilities was strong. This is a vast improvement over the two-way on-street protected bikeways like 15th Street NW and 1st Street NE, which have limited capacity and passing options. When the Pennsylvania Avenue NW facilities get built, they will be a great example for other parts of the city to point to when asking for bicycle infrastructure.

We need to keep asking for—and supporting—the best infrastructure

Of course, nothing is perfect. As a modern feminist woman, I know that you don’t get what you don’t ask for, so here we go: If DDOT wants to make the cycle tracks wider, I wouldn’t complain. There was also vocal support at the meeting for extending bicycle infrastructure up to H Street to connect the new infrastructure to the 15th Street protected bikeway down Vermont Avenue—and to connect the 15th Street protected bikeway to itself when it picks up by the Department of the Treasury.

Finally, there was support for testing the idea of closing Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 19th and 18th Streets to traffic. This would unite the two halves of Murrow Park and give DC a pedestrian street.

With this design, people who want better streets for cyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders have a great new example to point to as a best practice. There's no reason a design like this shouldn't exist on all of DC's arterial streets if we truly want to prioritize transit, cycling, and walking in DC.

Two restaurants in Cleveland Park shut their doors this weekend because of slow business. With strong support from residents, two ANC commissioners submitted a Comprehensive Plan amendment that would help bring more commercial space to the area. They withheld a proposal that would make it easier to build more housing because it didn’t get quite as much support.

Upscale Ripple and Vietnamese sit-down Nam Viet closed on Sunday, June 24, igniting a discussion among Cleveland Park residents about how to attract and keep businesses in the neighborhood.

Nam Viet was open for 20 years and was beloved as an affordable dining option in the area, but explained in a public letter posted online and in their door that business had lagged in recent years because of competition from restaurants in other neighborhoods. The letter explains:

“In many years as the District of Columbia has grown, we have seen new neighborhoods sprout almost monthly, and commerce move from one end of the city to the other. Competition to remain significant and relevant in this fast-paced DC restaurant market has presented a challenge to Cleveland Park business the past few years.”

Amidst the closings, ANC Commissioners Beau Finley (3C04) and Emma Hersh (3C05) released a survey to see if Cleveland Park residents supported addressing the issue by increasing the housing and commercial space along Connecticut Avenue NW. In their view, adding those things would bring more foot traffic, and therefore customers, to local businesses.

The survey asked whether residents support three amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, a document that lays out a long-term vision for growth in the city. The amendments would pave the way for more housing and commercial development and study the segment of Connecticut Avenue that runs through Cleveland Park.

Residents support letting more businesses come to the area

Image by Susan Balding used with permission.

According to the survey results, residents really want more commerce along the Connecticut Avenue corridor. 81% of those who took the survey said they support amending the Future Land Use Map in the Comprehensive Plan to support three to five story buildings that could be shops and offices along the Connecticut Avenue corridor. Right now, the corridor is zoned only to support one to two stories of commercial space.

The survey notes that more office space along the business corridor would be a welcome addition:

“For urban retail to thrive, it needs to maximize income across all parts of the day. With a paucity of office space, Cleveland Park lacks organic daytime foot traffic. Without reliable parking, it finds it challenging to attract daytime retail customers from other neighborhoods. Current zoning allows for just one story of commercial use. Allowing several floors of office space above first floor retail would infuse the neighborhood with a daily supply of customers ready to shop, eat and purchase services. Mixed use development would also satisfy demand for residential housing as well as office space.”

Support for building more housing is weaker, but still strong

The second amendment Finley and Hersh proposed would increase the density of the residential area, which is currently zoned for low-rise apartments, detached homes, and garden homes, to allow taller, denser buildings.

The survey points out that “the average single family home price in Cleveland Park is now over $1,500,000” and that “the area remains out of reach to many middle-class families and lacks economic and racial diversity.” Making it possible to build more (and more affordable) housing in the area, it goes on to explain, will go far toward a goal of creating a “well-balanced and diverse urban neighborhood” and as well as “provide opportunities for low income housing through inclusionary zoning.”

65% of residents supported this proposal. On the Cleveland Park listserv, Beau Finley noted that he and Hersh did not submit this amendment to the Office of Planning “after further engaging with neighbors who would be most affected.”

Residents also want DDOT to study Connecticut Avenue

Finally, residents also expressed support for a study of the reversible traffic lane on Connecticut Avenue, which changes direction in morning and evening rush hours to get commuters into and out of DC more quickly. 71% of the neighborhood residents who took the survey supported the study.

The survey noted that this reversible lane “may result in speeding, dangerous pedestrian conditions, and an impediment to commuters stopping to dine, shop or recreate in Cleveland Park.” The survey was also careful to note that the study would not involve the much-debated service lane in the area.

What’s next for Cleveland Park?

While it’s certainly painful, the business turnover in Cleveland Park is an opportunity for residents and the city to figure out how the neighborhood can keep up in a growing city while also holding on to its identity as a quiet pocket of almost small-town charm.

As a resident who loves living in Cleveland Park, I would love to see more businesses and affordable housing come to the area—and as someone who lives in the block that would have been affected by the proposed residential density amendment, I’m disappointed it didn’t ultimately get submitted. I would also be happy to see traffic-calming measures along Connecticut Avenue (and dream of the day when protected bike lanes will run down both sides of it instead of parking).

The area around the Eastern Market Metro stop is about to get a big redesign. On the way are a new playground, an outdoor reading area for the nearby Southeast Neighborhood Library, more environmentally friendly landscaping, and new bus stops.

There are six separate pieces of land around the Metro stop, which sits at Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th Street SE. Two are south of Pennsylvania, two are in the median, and two are to the north.

Right now, the area is mostly brick walkways, grass, and trees, with no truly direct route from the corner of 9th and D Streets SE to Pennsylvania. The area around the Metro station entrance itself is mostly brick, with a tree and rock bed blocking part of the most direct route from the corner of 8th and D Streets SE to the entrance. The medians along Pennsylvania Avenue are just grass.

Six pieces of land around the Eastern Market Metro entrance will get a makeover as part of the Eastern Market Metro Park project. Image by Eastern Market Metro Park.

The plan, called Eastern Market Metro Park, is the result of a 2013 design study and transportation management plan commissioned by Barracks Row Main Street as part of its goal to improve public space in the area. The work is scheduled to coincide with renovations to the Southeast Library and will start in 2019.

One new amenity: a playground

A big piece of land between 8th and 9th Streets, D Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue SE will become a park with a playground.

The space at the northwest corner of the project, as it is now. In the future, this will be a playground. Image by Nick Burger used with permission.

The playground will include equipment like a tree house, jungle gym, swings, and a water pump. It will also be landscaped to include a ridge, rolling hills, a valley, and a small water area landscaped to look like a river.

A new playground and green space will replace what is now a small plaza.Image by Eastern Market Metro Park.

The rest of this chunk of land will become an area of open grass for people to use. A pedestrian path will run through the park along the axis of South Carolina Avenue, giving people on foot straight access to the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 8th Street.

A new park will go above an expanded Southeast Library

On the Metro side of Pennsylvania Avenue, that pedestrian path will continue the line of South Carolina Avenue through another park. It will pass by a tree-covered “reading area” that will be part of upcoming renovations for Southeast Library, which sits just across from the plaza on 7th Street.

The reading area will go here. Image by Nick Burger used with permission.

The area directly around the Metro entrance will get better pedestrian paths, a pavilion, and a new entrance to the Southeast Library that will connect to the main building via an underground concourse. Image by Eastern Market Metro Park.

The library will be connected to the area through an entry pavilion attached to the reading area. The entryway will have stairs and an elevator that lead down to an underground portion of the library, to be constructed starting in 2019.

A new underground section of the Southeast Library, to be constructed starting in 2019, will connect the current building to the new Eastern Market Metro Park. Image by Eastern Market Metro Park.

The park will also open up a more direct route through the reading area to the Metro stop for pedestrians coming from the corner of 8th and D Streets.

Bus stops and medians will also get new landscaping

Two smaller pieces of land in the project at the northwest and southeast corners of Pennsylvania Avenue and 8th Street NE will be landscaped to include trees and benches.

They will also feature gardens to catch storm water runoff. A northbound bus stop that is now located at 8th and D will go on the southeast corner of Pennsylvania and 8th, across from the Metro entrance.

New trees and benches will go here, along with a new bus stop. Image by Google Maps.

The medians along Pennsylvania Avenue will get landscaping designed to capture runoff from the street when it rains. A wrought iron fence will surround the perimeter of the landscaping for pedestrian safety.

One of the medians as it is today. Image by Nick Burger used with permission.

The medians along Pennsylvania Avenue are currently grass. They will get new landscaping as part of the Eastern Market Metro Park project. Image by Eastern Market Metro Park.

The project is set to receive $4.5 million in funding from the DC government. The current proposal was reached after project organizers held eight community meetings and received thousands of comments. The land in the blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets SE is publicly owned.

“This project is a big deal for Capitol Hill and for Ward 6, but also for the District. A green and thriving Eastern Market is the heartbeat of DC,” said Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen.

]]>Mon, 05 Jun 2017 14:20:00 +0000Susan Balding (Contributor)DC is a great place to run (as long as you’re not running in a bike lane)https://ggwash.org/view/63509/dc-is-a-great-place-to-run-as-long-as-youre-not-running-in-a-bike-lane
https://ggwash.org/view/63509/dc-is-a-great-place-to-run-as-long-as-youre-not-running-in-a-bike-lane

During a recent bike commute up 15th Street NW, I asked a jogger why he was using the protected bike lane instead of the sidewalk. His response: “There aren’t a lot of good places to run in DC.” While I personally try to avoid running at all costs, I still wondered if this was true. I investigated, and according to my fellow GGWash contributors, DC is a great city to run in—just don't do it in the bike lanes.

Runners in DC have a world of route options…

One of the things that makes DC a great city for runners: options. If you’re looking to just get out for a quick jog or don’t want to make a day of it, you can just hop out your front door and go from there. And if you want more ideas, Kate Haselkorn wrote about 10 great running trails you can easily access via Metro just last week.

Some areas might be busier than others, but Scott Kaiser notes that it’s pretty easy to adjust course accordingly:

I do, in general, try to avoid areas of town where sidewalks get crowded (M Street NW) but I've never felt there were a lack of safe alternative routes. My only beef is the lack of general sidewalk etiquette when people walking towards you four abreast fail to move over.

Some people like Topher Matthews even combine their commute and their workout into one. “I run home from work a couple days a week,” Matthews says. “It takes care of two birds (commuting and exercising) with one stone. I run exclusively on sidewalks, mostly Mass Ave from Union Station to Dupont.”

For those looking to get away from red lights, pedestrians, and narrow sidewalks, DC’s many trails offer a great escape. Take it from Mike Grinnell:

DC as a whole is a great city for running. However, if you are in one of the more built up areas lacking the trails and parks it can make for a miserable experience running between the people on sidewalks and stopping at the lights. The good news is DC has plenty of great trails, most on the west side of the city. Some of them are even secluded enough to make you forget you're in the city.

“When I'm logging eight miles I don't want to stop at red lights and dodge people,” said Katie Gerbes. “The trails offer a perfect solution to that, so much so that I found myself aggravated when I was running out of town and had to use a sidewalk because no trail is available.”

For runners who stick to the sidewalks, pedestrians and red lights might not be the most irritating part of their jog. Topher notes:

The aggravation is not from dodging pedestrians (the sidewalks are wide enough) or waiting on red lights (I don't mind the break). It's dealing with cars. When they're not turning without looking or crossing the sidewalk at a curb cut without looking, or running red lights without looking, they're just staring at their phones and occasionally looking up to honk. I find myself shouting at drivers on a regular basis.

...but bike lanes aren’t one of them

If you do find yourself running on a busy sidewalk with no plans to change course, though, is it okay to use the bike lane?

Steven Seelig says no:

The bike lane exists as a “safe” part of the transportation infrastructure. It is not a recreational trail. The vast majority of runners are doing so as recreation and not transportation, and have plenty of alternatives about where they are headed, mostly because they are not really headed anywhere except in a circle. Whereas most bike riders using bike lanes are headed from point A to point B.

Others agreed that runners should stay out of the bike lanes, but noted that if you need to get around a group of people on a narrow sidewalk, dipping into the bike lane for a moment is okay—as long as you check that there’s no one coming first!

“I don't agree with running continuously in any bike or traffic lane,” said Ned Russell. “I do on occasion do so to avoid a crowded section of sidewalk or other obstacle. That's fair but a jogger should jump back on the sidewalk after that.”

But what about ditching the sidewalk to run in the street? Ned says sometimes you can’t avoid it—when you can’t, make sure it’s only for a moment and that you stay out of traffic:

I often run in the street in Old Town [Alexandria] due to sidewalk congestion. The issue is the sidewalks are narrow on certain blocks with doors that open directly onto them. I typically just jump onto the street (not bike lanes, just to the left of parked cars) because I'm worried if someone steps out of one of those shops and I slam into them I will knock them over. It's only a few blocks and I jump back on the sidewalk once I've passed.

The conclusion of my investigation: Run on, DC. Just not in the bike lane.

]]>Thu, 25 May 2017 16:45:00 +0000Susan Balding (Contributor)When a library closes, residents lose more than just access to bookshttps://ggwash.org/view/63345/marshall-heights-library-is-closed-and-residents-say-theyre-missing-more-th
https://ggwash.org/view/63345/marshall-heights-library-is-closed-and-residents-say-theyre-missing-more-th

A library in Ward 7 closed for renovations in February and will remain that way through at least the fall. But there aren’t any plans to replace its services in the meantime, and residents say the library’s closure will knock out a major pillar of the community that, in other places, might not be so vital.

Capitol View Library, located on Central Avenue SE in the Marshall Heights neighborhood, is one of three libraries serving the 70,000 residents who live in Ward 7. It’s where members of the community attend after-school and summer youth programs, exercise at classes like pilates and Zumba, access the internet, and hold community meetings for everything from civic groups to fraternal orders.

“It wasn’t just a place where books were stored. They had classes, we have our civic association meetings there, every other group I can think of has meetings there. I even saw a Masonic group having a meeting there,” said Keith Towery, chairman and CEO of the Marshall Heights Civic Association.

“In the morning, most times for that library, there’s already a line forming to sign up to use the computers,” Towery continued. “You’re taking way the ability of our residents to access the internet.”

“We also have many adults who don’t have computers at home,” noted a comment left after a different meeting about the library.

In communities like Marshall Heights, libraries can be a huge part of how residents access technology and the benefits that come with it. According to the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, the median income for households living east of the Anacostia River was just $34,000 in 2015 (compared to $75,600 for the city as a whole). This does not bode well for internet access in the area: The Pew Research Center finds that only 53 percent of households making less than $30,000 a year have broadband access at home.

DC is leaving the community around Capitol View without a library during renovations

The library closed for renovations on February 25 and is not scheduled to open again until the fall (Towery added that he was skeptical it will be that soon, in part because a stop work order was posted on the doors of the closed library earlier in April).

When Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray originally secured $10.5 million to renovate Capitol View Library’s interior, it included funding for interim services. Under Councilmember Yvette Alexander, funding dropped to $4 million, which meant shutting the library down for renovations without plans for interim service.

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s most recent budget added $2 million more back to the project, bringing its budget up to $6 million. But that’s for a second phase of exterior renovations during which the library would stay open; it doesn’t solve the issue of funding interim services while the interior is being worked on. And the fact that the additional funding will go toward exterior renovations that will happen while the library is open means people would be working inside a very noisy library during exterior construction.

By comparison, a similar renovation project for the Palisades Library has a budget of $8.2 million.

And while the Dorothy I. Height Library is only a mile away from Capitol View Library, Towery explains it is not a viable alternative for people in the area. For people who don’t have cars, walking along the mile stretch of Benning Road in the summer heat is not feasible or safe.

Residents want more funding for interim services and books

The Marshall Heights Civic Association is currently working to make sure residents aren’t left without crucial services during the library’s renovation. That certainly adds up: One of the civic association’s first big accomplishments was convincing DC to build Capitol View Library in 1965.

Residents, with the civic association’s help, have left comments with the DC Public Library to make it clear that both renovation and interim services are sorely needed:

“Regarding no interim space during the renovation: What happens to children and others who need services during that time?” asks another.

“Each time the DC Public Library came, our residents asked if they could have interim services when they decided to remodel,” said Towery. “The first two meetings they glazed over it, oh we hear your concern, and the third meeting came and said ‘No we can’t do it, we didn’t get a resounding response from the community saying we wanted it.’”

“Instead of trying to tap the institutions that we have in the community to see if interim services could be taken there, they didn’t do that until we started putting pressure on them,” he continued.

DC had originally planned to renovate the nearby Benning Park Community Center this summer, which would have left an even bigger hole in community services in the area. The construction has now been postponed and is scheduled to start in the fall thanks in part to the civic association’s efforts.

According to Towery, DCPL has also started reaching out to churches and elementary schools in the area to arrange some interim services for the community. But these services don’t yet match what the library used to provide the community.

“They reached out to St. Luke’s Catholic Church so they can get interim services there. They’re still working out how many days a week they will be open to provide internet access to the community,” said Towery. “They’re also going to provide storytime there.”

The civic association is also advocating for additional money to close the library during the second phase of exterior renovations and hold interim services in a nearby building. The group is requesting an extra $1 million to run interim services during the exterior construction.

“They’re going to be working on the exterior part of the building, which probably means it’s going to be pretty noisy and not great conditions for studying. It doesn’t make sense to keep a library open under construction when it’s supposed to be a quiet place,” said Towery. “But DC is telling us no.”

Another request: more money to replace old books once the library reopens. Currently, only $50,000 has been allocated to buy new books for the library. The civic association is requesting a total of $150,000 to help restock the library once it opens again.

And last but not least, Marshall Heights Civic Association is asking DC to provide better signage for the library. Currently, only a pillar set back from the street labels the building a library. The only sign indicating that it’s Capitol View Library is just a small plaque near the entrance.

This is about more than just a library

Beyond the library services themselves, the civic association’s work is about calling out the inequities that continue to leave historically black parts of DC with fewer services and less funding than other parts of the city. For example, Ward 7 has suffered from inadequate bus service, and areas east of the Anacostia River have notoriously limited access to amenities like bookstores, supermarkets, and restaurants.

One of the civic association’s first orders of business: Get banners made so that people knew the library was closed at all. “When they closed down the library, they didn’t give us any banners to say it was closed,” said Towery. “They pretty much printed a piece of paper and taped it to the door.” (Update: A DCPL spokesman says there were plans for banners in the works before the civic association asked for them.)

Small things, like how you tell people a place is closed, can send clear signals about how much you care. Image by the author.

Small things like a banner can send clear signals to a community about how much (or little) the city cares.

“The Marshall Heights story is probably the story of a lot of communities,” said Towery. “Due to discrimination, redlining, and a whole variety of things mainly centered around race, this was a community that a lot of pioneering African Americans came to to create a home.

“It’s a strong community. We’re invoking the pride and strength we had before and trying to change the narrative.”

]]>Tue, 09 May 2017 14:15:00 +0000Susan Balding (Contributor)Don’t expect the sky to fall when new homes come to this sitehttps://ggwash.org/view/63208/the-sky-wont-fall-when-new-homes-come-to-st.-josephs-seminary-in-michi
https://ggwash.org/view/63208/the-sky-wont-fall-when-new-homes-come-to-st.-josephs-seminary-in-michi

Eighty new rowhouses are likely on their way to the St. Joseph’s Seminary site in Michigan Park, just north of Brookland. The DC Zoning Commission will rule on the developer’s plan this week, and while a group of opponents have provided a steady stream of over-the-top arguments for why the project shouldn’t go up, a lot of neighbors and community groups have been vocal with their support.

The seminary building itself only takes up two of the eight acres at St. Joseph's, which is at 12th Street NE between Allison and Varnum Streets. The Josephites, who own the property, are working with developer EYA to turn the empty land into housing and a park. The project will bring 80 new three- and four-bedroom homes to the area, including 10 affordable units, all of which will help address our region's housing shortage (in particular, family-sized homes).

Six of the affordable units will be three bedroom units affordable for residents making less than 50 percent of the area median income, and four will be affordable for residents making less than 80 percent of AMI. The affordable units will sell for between $200,00 and $350,000.

The project will also include a playground, a Capital Bikeshare station on 12th Street NE, and bike lanes. Four acres of the lot will remain undeveloped and preserved through a combination of historic status and public open space. A full 2.4 acres of the lot will be accessible to the public from dawn until dusk.

“We are proud of the extensive community outreach effort on this project and more importantly, how the feedback influenced the project for the better,” said Evan Goldman, VP of Land Acquisition and Development at EYA. “We believe that the proposal is a model for how institutional properties with private open space can work with the community to develop a new project while providing much needed public open space.”

Opponents have stoked fears about the project

Some residents have opposed the project from the start because of traffic concerns, opposition to denser housing in the neighborhood, and worries over “neighborhood character.”

This contingent of residents has made their voices heard not only by writing letters to the Zoning Commission, but also by drumming up emotions with posters and at community meetings.

“The proposed development at St. Joseph’s will destroy this community, create havoc on the streets, and endanger residents [sic] mental/physical health,” writes one concerned resident in a letter asking the commission not to approve the project.

“What EYA proposes to do is nothing short of an architectural, environmental, public health/safety, and social travesty,” says another.

Last year, residents put out a flyer that claimed the St. Joseph’s project would “devastate green space in Michigan Park” and “kill mature trees on the Seminary grounds.”

A few weeks ago, WAMU's Martin Auhstermule, who lives in the neighborhood, tweeted about similar ones going up:

Opponents of proposed 80-townhouse development on seminary grounds in my neighborhood organizing ahead of zoning hearing next week: pic.twitter.com/iZ2z5Wacdd

This time around, the flyers claim that the project will mean more traffic, more noise and air pollution, and “less political representation,” among other negative effects. It directs residents to write the Zoning Commission about their opposition to the project.

But as it turns out, a lot of residents are ok with this development

While opponents have perhaps been more vocal, a network of residents has voiced support for the project. ANC 5A, which includes the site, voted 7-0-1 (with a new commissioner abstaining from the vote) in support of the project. Other supporters include Casey Trees, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting trees around DC, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the DC Office of Planning, and the District Departments of Housing, Transportation, and Energy and Environment.

Residents have responded positively to the community benefits included in the project, particularly the bikeshare station, the historic designation, and land on the lot being accessible to the public. They have also praised the updated architecture of the project, which better reflects the surrounding neighborhood.

Here's an excerpt from one letter to the Zoning Commission that over 60 nearby residents signed:

I encourage you to support the 12th and Allison proposal because it will bring new family style homes to a neighborhood of the District served by transit, preserve and enhance open space in Michigan Park, promote walkability in the area through its high-quality and carefully designed plan, support retailers along 12th Street by bringing new residents, and provide needed community benefits.

In its letter of support, the Queen’s Chapel Civic Association noted that EYA has also agreed to traffic calming measures that will bar heavy commercial vehicles from cutting through the area and protect seniors and children. According to EYA, the traffic increase will be slight: A study of five intersections around the site found that the project will result in only one new car every 95 seconds during the busiest traffic hour of the day.

The DC Zoning Commission will hold a hearing to review and approve plans for the St. Joseph's site on Thursday, April 27. It's at 6:30, at 441 4th Street NW. Residents and proponents of more housing in DC can testify in support of the project for three minutes. They can also submit written statements here or by emailing zcsubmissions@dc.gov.

Top image: The St. Joseph's site. The land behind the building is where the new rowhouses will go. The land on the side and in front won't get new buildings, and will remain open to the public. Image by Google Maps.

Plans are underway to make a car-oriented stretch of New York Avenue NE and its surrounding streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists. The most visible element of the project will be new bike infrastructure in the area, but residents are also concerned about making it easier to walk along the street. That’s a big priority for the District Department of Transportation as well.

If you’re not traveling by car, New York Avenue is in rough shape. Trees and utility poles spring up all over the narrow sidewalks, which ride up against a busy, high-speed street where signals don’t allow much time to cross.

New York Avenue's existing conditions. Click for a larger version. Image by DDOT.

Voted4Kodos: As a resident of Ivy City I'm much more concerned with making it safer to walk and cross than I am with biking. Biking is fine, but I want to see it walkable first.

RL3: I am a cyclist and a cycling advocate and I can tell you that based on the survey questions and the presentation material that the focus is on Bike infrastructure and not on pedestrian walking infrastructure or on fixing traffic issues.

But the large number of bike-related questions on DDOT’s survey shouldn’t discourage those hoping for better pedestrian facilities along New York Avenue NE. This project is about pedestrians as much as it is cyclists. It will focus on sidewalks, streetlights, plantings, trees, benches, public art, and other public space improvements.

“This project really is about everything,” said Kate Youngbluth, who is managing the project. “From walking, biking, scootering… however you’re going on New York Avenue.”

“The feedback survey, given online and at the meeting, had a lot of bike facility questions because there are different alternatives for how to better accommodate cyclists on the corridor,” said DDOT Pedestrian Program Coordinator George Branyan. “Improving the pedestrian facilities is really much more straightforward—new sidewalks where they are missing, wider sidewalks, ADA ramps, etc.”

Residents want better sidewalks, and they’re letting DDOT know

In response to DDOT’s survey, residents were vocal about the need for better sidewalks along the street. One part of the survey asked how they would divide $35—using stickers “worth” $5, $10, and $15—to improve the corridor. Residents overwhelmingly put their money toward sidewalks.

In other parts of the survey, residents also requested longer crossing times at intersections, removing utility poles from the center of paths, widening sidewalks, and putting sidewalks in where they currently don’t exist at all. Another common theme: requests for traffic-calming measures that will lower speeds and make New York Avenue NE even safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

“These are much-needed improvements, and we fully support them,” said Jacob Mason, a spokesperson for All Walks DC. “As part of a once-in-a-generation revisioning of this street, we hope DDOT goes much further towards creating a safe and comfortable walking environment.”’

Mason’s ideas for how DDOT can make this stretch of New York Avenue safer and friendlier for pedestrians echoes the responses given on DDOT’s survey.

“To create a more comfortable and useful walking environment, we hope to see more buffer between sidewalks and heavy traffic streets, as well as better connections to other walking paths, such as to the MET Branch Trail,” Mason explained.

“Safety measures include reducing crossing distances, improving crossing visibility, creating more frequent crossing opportunities, reducing pedestrian wait times at traffic signals, and working to reduce traffic speeds and volumes, all of which have been shown to support economic activity, and improve safety, and are important to achieving the important Vision Zero goals set forth by the Bowser administration.”

Next steps for New York Avenue NE

DDOT will hold another open house to present options for the redesign along New York Avenue on April 25 from 6 to 8 pm at the Holiday Inn Express on Bladensburg Road NE. The concepts will be based on feedback received from the survey, and DDOT will collect further feedback to use as they prepare to hold a third meeting on the project this summer.

Top image: New York Avenue NE. Not a good place for a stroll. Image by Google Maps.

Walking or riding a bike is a more popular way to get to work than in DC than just about any other major US city, but employee benefits for these modes pale in comparison to what employers provide for parking or taking transit. What would happen if people could swap parking benefits for cash?

DC has more people who bike to work than San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. In fact, according to the 2015 American Community Survey, 14% of DC residents walked to work and 4.1% biked, a total of 18.1%. Only Boston had a larger percentage: there, 16.7% of people walked and 1.6% biked, a total of 18.3%.

…but employers are much more likely to encourage driving and transit

As of 2016, most employers in DC must allow employees to use their own pre-tax dollars to buy transit fares. In addition, employers can provide their employees with a commuting benefit in the form of a pre-tax subsidy that covers up to $255 a month for parking and another $255 for public transit. When it comes to biking, though, employers can offer only a $20 per month reimbursement—and it cannot be combined with money for either parking or transit. Walking is not eligible for a tax-free commuter benefit.

This means employees might have to make a choice: Do they want upwards of $500 per month for parking and transit, $20 per month to bike (if their employer offers it, but few do), or zero dollars to walk? Clearly, one thing that happens here is that employers give an incentive to drive to work.

When employers subsidize parking, either by paying for it themselves or letting workers put money from their checks aside for these amenities before taxes, they incentivize driving. These subsidies effectively drive up congestion and leave governments with fewer tax dollars to put toward repairing bridges and roads.

The case for paying people to walk and bike—not drive—to work

What if employees who are eligible for parking and transit benefits could opt out of them and instead just get extra income equal to the value of the benefit? This solution, known as “parking cash-out,” would likely result in more people walking or biking to work.

Employees who don’t get an incentive to drive are much more likely to walk or bike to work. According to Dr. Kenneth Joh of the Metropolitan Washington Area Council of Governments, “walking and biking trip shares were about three times higher for DC workers who were not offered free parking by their DC employer compared to DC workers who were eligible for free parking.”

Cheryl Cort at the Coalition for Smarter Growth notes that commuters who walk or bike are more likely to actually enjoy their commute than those who take the train or drive. And commuters who walk or bike to work not only do so to save money, but also to stay in shape.

Fewer people driving could help cut down on congestion as well as keep employees from feeling like they’re leaving money on the table when they choose not to use their parking benefit.

Of course, employers could simply offer this benefit if they wanted to— that’s how parking and transit benefits work now. But another option would be to require employers to offer an equivalent benefit to people use don’t drive or use transit to get to work.

DC Councilmember Charles Allen has introduced a bill that would do just that. It would require any employer that offers to pay for parking or transit for employees to get to work also provide the option to use an equivalent benefit not to drive. If it passes, DC would be the first major city to have an enforceable parking cash-out program.

As traffic congestion in DC continues to rank among the worst in the country and WMATA marches ahead with SafeTrack, making parking cash-out happen could very likely be a bright spot for transportation in the region.

Correction: The first version of this post said that Charles Allen's bill would require employers who pay for parking or transit benefits to also provide a parking cash-out option. The law only applies to employers who offer parking benefits.

New York Avenue NE is one of DC’s most car-oriented and high-speed roads, and right now the only way to bike along it is to share the street with cars. That could change, though, as the District Department of Transportation is considering adding a bike trail or protected bikeway to the corridor.

These efforts to make biking and walking along New York safer are part of DDOT’s New York Avenue streetscape project, which is looking to improve the road between Florida Avenue NE and Bladensburg Road NE.

Image by DDOT.

At a recent community meeting, DDOT presented two proposals: a trail that would run parallel to New York along the north side of the street and a protected bikeway that would run along the south side. Both options would start at 4th Street NE and continue east to 16th Street.

A trail or a bikeway: both have pros and cons

A multi-use trail on the north side of New York Avenue would give people a place to walk and cycle away from traffic, much like the Metropolitan Branch Trail. Off-street trails give pedestrians and cyclists their own space, without forcing them to contend with traffic. This makes it safer for them to get around, especially on streets like New York Avenue.

The other option DDOT is asking for feedback on is a bi-directional protected bikeway on the south side of New York Avenue, like the ones on 15th Street NW and First Street NE. This would make areas to the south of New York Avenue a lot more accessible.

The downside of the trail option is that is that there would not be many ways to cross from the north side of New York Avenue— where crossing can already feel like gamble, signal or no—to the south. That could limit options for people looking to cross over to destinations like Union Market. WIth the bikeway option, there’s the concern that even if it’s protected, cyclists and drivers will be closer to having to share space.

As DDOT considers the options, it’s asking residents to take a survey and give input. In its survey, the agency asks participants to list a their top two preferences for how they would like to cross from the trail to the other side of the street: through a tunnel or on a crosswalk at 4th street, on a crosswalk at 9th street, a crosswalk at Fenwick Street, or a crosswalk at 16th Street.

The chief question is this: Do cyclists want to be able to use the bikeway to access all of the streets that connect to the south side of New York Avenue NE? Or do they want to be able to quickly navigate down New York Avenue with dealing with traffic and lights?

To the Arboretum…and beyond?

DDOT’s proposals also include additional bike infrastructure on the streets connecting the NoMa Metro stop, Union Market, Gallaudet, and Ivy City. Streets connecting these destinations—streets like Penn Street NE, Mount Olivet, Brentwood Parkway, and Okie Street—could get painted lanes and sharrows to help cyclists get around.

As of now, the proposed New York Avenue facilities do not extend past 16th Street, but hopefully one day DDOT will build something that extends to Fort Lincoln. Also, with the current proposals, if someone wants to get to the Arboretum by using space specifically for bikes, they will have to navigate down 16th Street, up West Virginia Avenue, along 17th Street to 24th Street—perhaps not the most intuitive or most convenient route.

Plans for a new VRE rail yard could throw a wrench into things

One complicating factor with this entire project, and especially with the trail possibility, is that the Virginia Railway Express is looking at the possibility of building a storage yard for its trains along the north side of New York Avenue, also between 4th and 16th Streets. Unless the trail ran over a deck overtop of the yard, yard (which does seem to at least be a possibility), New York Avenue will likely get either a trail or a rail yard—not both.

In the meantime, DDOT still wants to know what residents would like to see happen along the street. The survey asks how residents use (or would use) the area’s streets for bicycling and walking. It looks like these answers will have a big impact on whether New York Avenue NE winds up with a safer but more remote off-street trail or a more connected bikeway that’s also right next to car traffic.

When employers offer free parking at the office or a parking stipend, they're incentivizing workers to commute by driving. If workers could instead use that money to get to work in other ways, like by bike or by foot, fewer people would drive and roads would be less congested.

Here’s how transit benefits work

When employers provide a commuting subsidy, workers can receive up to $255 a month tax-free for parking or for taking transit. Workers can also be reimbursed up to $20 a month tax free for bike commuting, to pay for things like a lock or helmet. The way commuter benefits work today, workers can combine parking and transit benefits but not bike benefits. But the way commuter benefits work today, workers must choose a single mode, whether it's driving (a parking stipend or parking space), transit (a transit subsidy), or biking.

Employers can either pay for this benefit themselves or let employees take it out of their paychecks before taxes. Employer-paid benefits leave employees with more money in their pockets and are cheaper for the employer than a salary increase. Giving employees the option to set aside money from their paycheck before taxes is also cheaper for the employer and means fewer taxes come out of the employee’s final paycheck.

Employer-provided commuting stipends aren't the only way workers can save money on their commutes. DC, San Francisco, and New York City have all passed laws requiring employers of a certain size to let employees spend their own money tax-free to buy transit fares. goDCgo, the District Department of Transportation's Transportation Demand Management program, collected information about commuter benefits offerings from 191 employers in 2016. According to that sample of 191 employers, 78 percent of employers started offering pre-tax transit benefits because of the law. According to DDOT, 78% of employers in DC started offering pre-tax transit benefits because of the law.

Nonetheless, employers who offer to pay for part or all of their workers' parking can be a lot more attractive than those who just allow employees to buy pre-tax transit fares. In DC According to the same survey, 34 percent of employers offer free parking, and an additional 18 percent offer an employer-paid parking subsidy.

The current tax code pays employees to sit in traffic

If you work somewhere where parking is free and abundant, a parking benefit doesn't really affect you. But if you’re commuting in a place where parking costs money—for example, downtown DC—this benefit is very real, as it makes driving cheaper, but transit still costs the same.

Parking benefits, you likely won’t be surprised to hear, also drive up congestion. And beyond that, they leave governments with even less money to repair roads and keep up public transit systems: As of 2014, the parking benefit translated into about $7 billion a year in lost tax revenue (because the money used toward the benefit is not taxed). To put that in perspective, the Federal Transit Administration’s total appropriations in 2016 came to just over $11 billion.

A solution: Don't tie commuting benefits to a single mode of transportation

One solution that might work to reduce congestion and encourage employees to trade their car in for a better form of transit: letting them give up their parking space in exchange for cold, hard cash.

This solution, known as “parking cash-out,” lets employees choose between a taking an employer-paid parking benefit or exchanging the parking benefit for extra income. This creates an “opportunity cost” for what would otherwise be a no brainer decision—why give up free or cheap parking if you're not getting anything in return?

Crowded city centers are particularly suited to benefit from these kinds of programs, because it's relatively easy to determine the value of a parking space because garages have daily and monthly rates. Free parking is a powerful incentive to drive, even when traffic congestion is frustrating, and transit, walking or bicycling might be good commute options. So if an employer pays $200 a month to reserve a parking space for an employee, parking cash-out could let someone simply pocket the $200.

In some cases, workers are already doing this, commuting by walking or biking, but now they’d get the value of the parking space, and instead of it sitting empty, it can be leased to someone else.

Other parts of the country have already started to try cash-out programs in an attempt to reduce congestion and improve air quality. For example, California requires employers with 50 or more workers to provide a cash-out option if they also provide parking subsidies. In Southern California, employers offering this benefit saw lone occupant driving go down by 13% and also saw a 12% reduction in miles traveled by car.

MoveDC, DC’s plan to rethink how people get from place to place in and around the city, aims for 75% of trips in the District to be on transit, by foot, or by bike. A parking cash-out program could be a big step toward achieving that.

What kind of transit benefits does your employer provide? Let us know by taking this short survey!

The original version of this post said that parking and transit benefits cannot be combined, but they can. Also, the post was not entirely clear that the data provided by DDOT came from a sample of employers, not all employers. The post has been corrected accordingly.

Arlington has set ambitious goals to tackle housing affordability, in part by making it easier for developers to build affordable housing in the first place. According to a recent report, Arlington made plans for new affordable units and brought its number of homeless residents down last year even as rents and housing costs went up.

At the beginning of last year, Arlington got the ball rolling on its Affordable Housing Master Plan. The plan aims to increase the supply of affordable housing in Arlington to 17.7% by 2040, make sure at-risk groups like the elderly and people with disabilities have access to affordable housing, and keep affordable housing environmentally friendly and close to public transit.

A report from Arlington’s Department of Community Planning, Housing, and Development says the effort is off to a good start.

Over the past year, Arlington approved 219 units guaranteed to stay affordable for the next 30 to 60 years. In most cases, the rent for these committed affordable units (CAFs) are affordable for families making less than 60% of the area median income. These new units bring the total number of CAFs in Arlington to 7,463.

The biggest source of these new affordable apartments is Gilliam Place, which will bring 173 affordable units to the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Lincoln Street. The project will also make good on Arlington’s commitment to building affordable housing near transit—Metro’s route 16 buses run up and down the road frequently—and amenities like employers and stores—the ground floor will provide almost 9,000 square feet for stores and community space.

Developments like Gilliam Place are possible thanks to the Arlington Housing Investment Fund (AHIF), which gives low-interest loans to developers that build affordable housing. This is Arlington’s version of DC’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, a pot of money used to build affordable housing for low-income and extremely low-income residents. The main difference is that Arlington’s funding comes largely from allocations and contributions from developers participating in the program, while DC’s funding comes largely from a tax property owners pay the city whenever they sell a building or piece of land.

Last year, Arlington County approved projects that will add 173 committed affordable units at Gilliam Place and help make 103 more units affordable thanks to over $21 million in loan funds allocated to AHIF. It also received $3.5 million in loan repayments and $5.5 million in contributions from developers.

In the Washington region, apartments near train stops and bus routes bring in more tax money for cities and counties than apartments farther away from the same resources. That’s according to a new report that shows that cities and counties have a lot to gain from building apartments near public transportation.

The report, released by the Urban Land Institute, looked at 10,000 apartments across the Baltimore-Washington DC region (including Fairfax, Montgomery, and Anne Arundel counties) to see whether units near transit bring in more revenue and put less demand on public services than apartments farther away from these amenities.

The findings bring good news for people who would like to see more apartments built near train stations and along bus corridors—and also for local governments looking to improve their bottom line.

Thanks to things like real estate taxes, property taxes, permits, and fees, apartments near transit brought in between $1.13 and $2.20 per year in government revenue for every $1 spent on public services for residents. If these apartments had been farther away from transportation, the study found, they would have generated less revenue—between $0.77 and $1.35 for every $1 spent.

Housing near transit tends to put less stress on schools

The study found that the type of people living in apartments near public transit have a lot to do with how much revenue these units generate. For instance, fewer families with school-age children live in apartments located near public transportation. This means that the residents in these apartments put less demand on public schools—and that translates into savings.

Opponents of higher-density developments in DC and the greater Washington area have often used concern over burdens on local public schools to justify their opposition. But this study’s findings might give them one less thing to worry about.

Can we make transit-oriented development for everyone?

However, there’s still more to be understood when it comes to the benefits of transit-oriented development as a whole. Three of the apartment buildings the study looked at had a median age range of 31 to 40 years (though the fourth in Fairfax County had a younger median age range of 26 to 30 years). It also finds that the median household income per unit in these developments was substantially higher than similar developments located farther from transit.

This raises a few concerns: Are apartments near transit only affordable for older residents or professionals without kids? Or do older residents simply prefer to live closer to non-car transportation? And if a certain number of apartments in buildings located near transit are set aside for affordable housing, will this affect the money generated for cities and counties?

Housing affordability is a notoriously difficult problem to address, especially for families. DC has tried to address this by giving developers incentives to build more three-bedroom apartments in an area of Navy Yard. If this incentive was available in other parts of the city, it might help keep housing diverse in other neighborhoods.

If larger, family-friendly units are mixed in with smaller units in transit-oriented developments, perhaps the savings generated by the latter would offset the higher costs imposed on amenities like public schools.

]]>Thu, 02 Feb 2017 16:48:00 +0000Susan Balding (Contributor)A local business is shutting down because nobody can use the sidewalk outsidehttps://ggwash.org/view/62189/a-local-business-is-shutting-down-because-nobody-can-use-the-sidewalk-ou
https://ggwash.org/view/62189/a-local-business-is-shutting-down-because-nobody-can-use-the-sidewalk-ou

At 15th and L Streets NW, where the old Washington Post building is now a giant hole in the ground and construction on a new building is underway, the sidewalk along the western side of 15th is closed. Thanks to the slowdown in foot traffic, a coffee shop there is has closed its doors for good.

Fans of locally roasted coffee knew something was up when Bean & Bite, which has been around since 2012, posted a note a few weeks ago explaining that they would unexpectedly be closed for the near future.

Then a new sign announced that it was closing for good: “It has been a hard fought battle losing so many customers from the demolition of our neighboring buildings,” the latest note reads. “Not to mention all the construction, lane, and sidewalk closures that have made it hard for customers to come back.

Image by Susan Balding used with permission.

There’s a law in DC that says that when construction closes a sidewalk or bike lane, developers have to provide alternative accommodations. But that hasn’t happened here. Instead, when demolition began, the sidewalk disappeared entirely and signs pushed pedestrians to go out of their way and use the other side of the street. People ignored the signs and walked along an alternative lane that was supposed to be for bicyclists.

While a separate temporary sidewalk appeared for a couple of months, we’re now back to where we started: Pedestrians, cyclists, joggers, and more sharing one narrow lane on the side of the street. And they have one less coffee shop to pop into along the way.

Bean & Bite’s closure goes to show that neglecting pedestrian and bicyclist infrastructure comes at a price for small businesses.

Buffalo, New York, recently got rid of an archaic law requiring developers to include a minimum number of parking spots for each building. Even though DC reduced parking minimum requirements last year, Buffalo’s example makes you wonder: Could the city do away with them for good?

Parking minimums are rules that require developers to build a minimum number of parking spaces depending on building type and size. They lead to garages and lots that eat up valuable space that could be used in other ways. Without them, the market can help decide how much parking is necessary, or whether anyone needs it at all.

It costs space: In the United States, off-street parking consumes an area roughly the size of Connecticut.

It costs the environment: By creating parking that’s cheaper than its actual cost, we encourage people to choose traveling by car over traveling by public transit, bike, or foot.

It costs developers: Building a parking garage that might or might not be needed is expensive, and that space could be put to use for other purposes.

It costs our communities: Not only are we missing out on revenue that could come from either charging for parking that is already available or using space earmarked for parking for something else, it also costs them in terms of walkability and livability.

This video from Ottawa explains the problem well:

Buffalo eliminated its own parking minimum requirement as part of an overhaul of the city’s zoning code. It is the first city in the United States to eliminate parking minimums on a citywide scale, as reported by Mark Sommer in the Buffalo News.

“The changes in zoning and in land use will affect the city in numerous ways by promoting walkable neighborhoods, mixed developments, historic character, environmental sustainability and mass transit,” writes Sommer.

DC’s parking minimums still, well…exist

In 2016, the DC Zoning Commission unanimously approved changes to the zoning code that reduced minimums for buildings located near public transit and even eliminated parking minimums in all parts of downtown.

But for the most part, parking minimums still require developers to tack on a certain number of parking spaces when building single family housing, apartment buildings, retail and service buildings over 3,000 square feet, hotels, and industrial buildings.

Eliminating parking requirements doesn’t mean eliminating parking altogether: it simply means letting developers look to the market to determine how much parking is in demand and building accordingly. Our neighborhoods, our cities, and our environment will benefit from it—which is to say we all will benefit from it.

]]>Fri, 13 Jan 2017 15:33:00 +0000Susan Balding (Contributor)Housing and jobs are popping up around the Green Line at breakneck pacehttps://ggwash.org/view/62022/housing-and-jobs-are-popping-up-around-the-green-line-at-breakneck-pace
https://ggwash.org/view/62022/housing-and-jobs-are-popping-up-around-the-green-line-at-breakneck-pace

The Green Line is an economic engine in the Washington region, attracting jobs, housing, retail, and young people, says a new report. It’s a great example of how important public transit and transit-oriented development are to economic growth in our cities.

The report, which was commissioned by the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District, examines how much economic growth has happened since 2000 within a quarter mile of stations along the Green Line from Petworth to Navy Yard.

Image by Peter Dovak used with permission.

To sum things up: it’s a lot —enough to generate $3.66 billion in tax revenues for the District over the next 20 years. Thanks to the increase in housing and retail near transit, the Green Line corridor has become an increasingly attractive place to live.

Housing is springing up around the Green Line corridor…

The Green Line has attracted one thing the District desperatelyneeds more of: housing. One out of every four new apartments built in DC since 2000 has been built along the Green Line corridor; when the units currently under construction are finished, 9,500 apartment units will have been built along this corridor since 2000. This means the Green Line is outperforming other Metro corridors when it comes to apartment development.

Image from the report.

Most of these new apartments have been built around the Navy Yard-Ballpark Metro stop, with the Waterfront stop trailing closely behind.

It is worth noting that the housing being built along the corridor isn’t necessarily affordable for many: the report says that new condos built along this corridor are boosting the resale value of condos in the area by an average of over 30 percent.

...and so are shops and restaurants.

More shops and restaurants are accompanying the housing boom along the corridor—and that’s not just because of CityCenter, the mixed-use luxury development near Gallery Place that opened in 2014. Fifty percent of the District’s retail development since 2010 has happened near Green Line Stations, and only 20 percent of the retail that’s sprung up on the corridor can be attributed to CityCenter.

Image from the report.

Navy Yard once again stands out as a hotspot: the area counts for more retail development than any other around a Green Line station (22 percent) and will add the equivalent of 1.5 times the retail of the huge CityCenter development downtown by 2019.

All of this development is fueling job growth

All of this development is translating into jobs, which is great seeing as the District’s unemployment rate was still six percent as of November 2015. The report finds that the number of jobs located on the Green Line corridor grew by 50 percent between 2010 and 2016, with over 75,000 people working along it today.

While this job growth has been fueled by the service sector (think restaurant and coffee bar jobs), other industries are driving job growth, too,, including the government, schools, and legal services.

Image from the report.

If you build it…millennials will come?

The report calls the Green Line “the corridor of choice for attracting young professionals.” Since 2010, this corridor has attracted one out of every two of the District’s new households under the age of 35.

On their own, the Waterfront and Navy Yard-Ballpark areas added as many new young households since 2010 as Petworth, U Street, Shaw, and Mount Vernon stations combined. This goes along with a trend that has emerged over the past few years: youngpeoplewant transit and walkability.

Transit brings economic growth, but we still need to make sure everyone can benefit from it

This study backs up previous reports saying that transit promotes economic growth and makes cities more attractive. But it also raises one flag: making sure this new development can be used by everyone along the Green Line corridor, and isn’t just affordable for well-off professionals. As we add more mixed-use development near transit, it’s important to make sure that a diverse group of people are able to access and use it (and yes, this means afford it).

DC’s inclusionary zoning program gives developers an incentive to make at least some units in their buildings affordable for those who make less than 50 percent of area median income, a standard cities use to determine how much an individual or family of four can afford to spend on housing. And the District has also committed $7 million to preserving affordable housing in Wards 6 and 8, which are served by the Green Line.

The economic growth surging along the Green Line is a great sign that cities should invest more in transit and mixed-use development that lets people bike, walk, and use public transit to get around. Making sure this growth continues and that it reaches everyone isn’t easy, but is worthwhile to keep our cities accessible and affordable.

Plans to build a four-story parking garage next to the Brookland Metro station are moving forward. While many neighbors oppose the project because they say it will make traffic congestion worse, it’s not exactly the kind of thing urbanists would support either— they’d likely say that housing and retail would be a far better use of the land.

The garage, located at 818 Michigan Avenue NE, is set to be four stories tall with 1,441 parking spaces. The Children’s National Medical Center will lease most of the spots for its workers, who will then take shuttle buses back and forth from the hospital. DC’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) issued Douglas Development a permit to start construction in August.

Children’s National is one of the largest employers in the region and perhaps the largest destination in DC not served by a Metro station; the closest one is Brookland. While the hospital runs shuttle bus service from the Brookland station to the campus, the shuttles only run on weekdays from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm.

The lot will primarily serve Children’s National visitors and employees driving into the city for work, not residents or visitors to the neighborhood. The new garage will allow Children’s National to consolidate five out of six of its current off-site parking locations, which are currently connected to the hospital by free shuttles. The hospital has off-site lots in Columbia Heights and Brookland, near Union Station, at 17th Street and Florida Avenue NW, on South Dakota, and in Hyattsville near the University Town Center.

The traffic study that Gorove/Slade Associates compiled for the project explains that there are no plans for after-hours parking for the public or non-CMNC users, though businesses may be able to use the garage on weekends for limited valet parking.

A rendering of the proposed garage. Image by Douglas Development used with permission.

Neighbors aren’t thrilled about the lot

Nearby residents have protested the development because they are worried it will mean more traffic and more congestion in the area. In 2015, ANC 5B, which includes the lot, issued a resolution in opposition to the development.

“ANC 5B is seriously concerned that Douglas Development’s 818 Michigan Avenue Parking Garage project is not in the best interest of the public,” it reads, urging DCRA to deny building permits. The resolution goes on to say that traffic in the area has increased steadily over the last five years, that the trend will continue, and that the garage will only make matters worse.

All of this is happening in an area that features an eight-way thoroughfare, presenting a particular challenge. At this intersection, Michigan Avenue NE, Charles Drew Bridge, Bunker Hill Road NE, and 10th Street NE converge to create what the resolution describes as “significant traffic at both morning and evening rush hours, with traffic at a stand still during morning and evening commutes.”

The intersection of Michigan Avenue NE, Bunker Hill Road NE, and 10th Street NE. The garage will be straight ahead and to the right. Image by Google Maps.

Based on these conditions, the residents conclude that Douglas Development’s 1,400+ space parking garage “is not in the best interest of the public” and urge DC government to deny building permits.

Building a parking garage on this site feels like a missed opportunity

Resident opposition to development projects based on fears of increased traffic is nothingnew. What's interesting here is that many who follow smart growth principles also oppose this development, just not for the same reasons.

From a smart growth perspective, traffic congestion isn't the problem. The problem is misusing valuable space in a neighborhood that could benefit from more housing or retail.

DC’s Small Area Plan for the neighborhood recommends future development focus on creating a “new mixed-use transit-oriented civic core for Brookland.” The District Department of Transportation has also emphasized the need for infrastructure making it possible for people to bike, walk, and use public transit to get between Brookland and other parts of the city.

Investing in infrastructure that better connects Children’s National and the surrounding Brookland area to the rest of the city would also give hospital visitors and employees better options for getting to the campus.

Even the 5B neighbors are pointing out the disconnect between the Douglas parking garage and recommendations for the future of Brookland.

This doesn’t necessarily mean neighbors would be thrilled to see a mixed-use apartment building go up on the site. The fact that this lot is right around two blocks away from 901 Monroe Street NE, where resident opposition recently prevented a mixed-use development like the one recommended by the Small Area Plan.

Just across the Metro bus bay from the proposed parking garage, neighbors have fought to keep this empty lot… empty. Image by Google Maps.

But their opposition to the proposed parking garage does show us there are at least a few things we can agree on: We need development that builds and serves communities, and development that encourages walking, biking, and public transit use—not development that serves only to shuttle people in and out of the District.

Top image: This is a pretty great place for some housing and retail, but it's going to be a parking garage instead. Image by Jonathan Neeley used with permission.

]]>Thu, 05 Jan 2017 16:46:00 +0000Susan Balding (Contributor)A developer has agreed to build shorter and less dense than the law allows, but neighbors are still fighting ithttps://ggwash.org/view/43815/a-developer-has-agreed-to-build-shorter-and-less-dense-than-the-law-allows-but-neighbors-are-still-fighting-it
https://ggwash.org/view/43815/a-developer-has-agreed-to-build-shorter-and-less-dense-than-the-law-allows-but-neighbors-are-still-fighting-it

An apartment building is slated to go up at the site of an old grocery store near American University. Some residents oppose the new housing and only want a grocery store to return there, but apartments are likely coming to the site no matter what. It’s the grocery store that the opposition could kill.

This could turn into a grocery store with apartments on the bottom… or it could just turn into apartments. Image from Google Maps.

The old Superfresh site at the corner of Yuma and 48th Streets NW off of Massachusetts Avenue has been vacant since Fresh and Greens, another grocery store, closed in 2011. But that’s set to change thanks to a proposed building from Valor Development.

The proposed development, called the Ladybird, would bring a grocery store and 230 units to the area, including 200 rentals and 30 condos, with 10 percent of these units set aside as affordable through DC’s inclusionary zoning program. It also includes a public park that would connect the site with other stores in the area, making it easier for residents to walk from place to place.

Image from Google Maps.

According to the developer, these units would be aimed at attracting current residents in the area looking to downsize. The development would also connect the Spring Valley Shopping Center and rest of the neighborhood with a pedestrian avenue between the two buildings.

Instead of just apartments, the developer wants to build a grocery store too

The Superfresh parcel is zoned to allow “moderate-density mixed-used development” in a low- or moderate-density residential area like the one surrounding the site. That means that if it wanted to, the developer could build the proposed 230 residential units, just without commercial space (i.e. the grocery store), without any special approval.

Valor does want to build a grocery store, though, so it’s proposing a deal: while the new building could have up to almost 32,000 square feet on a penthouse level, the current proposal only uses 14,000 square feet. And the proposed design includes almost 15,000 square feet of public space, which isn’t required at all.

That deal, however, means the developer must submit their proposal for review by the Zoning Commission. This is because the grocery store causes the development to deviate from the standards allowed as a matter of right. The process here is different from a Planned Unit Development because Valor is not proposing to change the building’s density (with the grocery store, it will be shorter and have fewer residents), but rather to change the building’s use.

The diagram below compares what can go up on the Superfresh as a matter of right with the development that has been submitted to the Zoning Commission for voluntary design review. Note that “FAR” means floor area ratio.

Photo from of Valor Development.

It looks like the developer wants to give neighbors what they want, but neighbors are still opposed

Some residents, however, oppose the proposed development. A group led by Citizens for Responsible Development argues that even though the zoning says a moderate-density apartment building can go up, that shouldn’t be allowed because the Future Land Use Map included in the DC Comprehensive Plan says the parcel should be “low-density commercial.” They also argue the additional apartment units would strain schools and bring unwanted traffic into the area. Some are concerned that the development will lower property values in the area.

Residents have joined together to oppose the 230-unit development proposed for the old superfresh site (pictured in background). Photo by the author.

But the zoning map, not the Comprehensive Plan’s Future Land Use Map, determines what can be built where. And as the DC zoning map illustrates, the question to ask about the Superfresh site is not whether there will be apartments, but whether those apartments will be built on top of a grocery store. If residents succeed in shooting down the developer’s latest proposal during the design review, they may find themselves with an apartment building but no grocery store.

“There seems little doubt that housing will be built at the site one way or another,” said ANC 3E Chair Jonathan Bender. “To the degree neighbors mobilize to negotiate about issues such as traffic management and public space design, they can potentially make the neighborhood a safer, more livable, and perhaps even more fun place. I, and I believe all of my ANC colleagues, will work hard to see that the developer does all that is reasonable to accommodate neighborhood consensus on such issues.”

The apartments—both market price and those made affordable thanks to inclusionary zoning—and grocery store would bring much-needed amenities to the area. The neighborhood surrounding the Superfresh site is largely made up of single-family homes, and Ward 3 has lagged behind the other parts of the city when it comes to building affordable housing. The closest full-service grocery store, meanwhile, is the Whole Foods in Tenleytown.

Ward Circle is a rather uniquely designed roundabout at the intersection of Nebraska and Massachusetts Avenues NW, near American University. Traffic there is heavy and there are a lot of crashes, so DC wants to make it safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. The agency is considering four options for doing so.

The intersection of Nebraska and Massachusetts.

Ward Circle serves vehicles traveling to and from the District as well as pedestrians from American University and a nearby Department of Homeland Security office.

A previous District Department of Transportation (DDOT) study, called the Rock Creek West II Livability Study, found that Ward Circle had the most crashes of any intersection near Tenleytown, Van Ness, and Friendship Heights. There have been 60 in the last three years, with 18 resulting in injuries.

While many circles in the District are roundabouts, Ward Circle has a cat’s eye shape thanks to two interior lanes that cut through the center as a continuation of Nebraska Avenue. One cause for all the crashes, as well as traffic delays, is that drivers often illegally turn left from these lanes into the roundabout (on to Massachusetts).

Ward Circle’s current setup. Images from of DDOT.

Another cause for concern are the crosswalks located where Massachusetts Avenue intersects the circle. While the crosswalks on the Nebraska Avenue entrances are protected by lights, pedestrians on Massachusetts are protected from traffic only by “yield to pedestrians” signs.

This leaves pedestrians vulnerable to distracted drivers— when DDOT studied Ward Circle, it found that drivers rarely yield to pedestrians in these crosswalks. Also, not having lights at the crosswalks slows traffic when drivers do stop.

Any attempt to fix all of this would have to account for another factor: the green space in the middle of the circle, which the National Park Service owns. While people cannot currently access the space, it houses the eponymous statue of Artemis Ward at the center, and it offers environmental benefits as well, like absorbing rainwater.

At a recent community meeting, DDOT proposed four ways to change Ward Circle’s design. The goal is to make the circle safer, make traffic flow more smoothly, and minimize the impact the changes have on the green space. The details are below:

Option 1: A classic roundabout

The first design option would convert Ward Circle into a full roundabout by removing the two interior lanes that carry Nebraska Avenue. It would also place signals at the Massachusetts entrances to the circle, making the crosswalks at these entrances safer for pedestrians and cyclists using the sidewalk to navigate the circle. This design doesn’t include crosswalks for getting to the green space.

According to DDOT Western Area Planner Theodore van Houten, who led the community meeting, this design would increase pedestrian safety thanks to the signalized entrances on Massachusetts. With this option, there wouldn’t be much effect on the green space, and the statue would stay where it is.

When it did its analysis, DDOT concluded that this design would negatively affect traffic because it would require more cars to stop for longer at the newly signalized crosswalks at the Massachusetts Avenue entrances.

Option 2: The cat’s eye, but with legal turns from Nebraska onto Massachusetts

This option would remove the possibility of illegal turns from the interior lanes by simply making the turns legal. It would also remove the roundabout, making the interior turn lanes the only options for turning off of Massachusetts Avenue onto Nebraska or vice versa.

This option would still leave pedestrians with minimal access to the green space. And according to DDOT, it would also have a negative impact on traffic flow because it would force all traffic turning left onto Nebraska or Massachusetts to use the interior lanes, rather than going around a full roundabout as they currently do.

However, this option would make the circle safer for pedestrians by installing signals at the Massachusetts Avenue entrances.

Option 3: Run roads straight through the circle

The third option would make left turns onto Massachusetts Avenue from the interior lanes legal by turning the center of the circle into a four-way intersection. Dedicated right turn lanes would let cars branch off onto Massachusetts and Nebraska Avenues. Two lane streets would also be preserved on the outermost part of the rotary; they’d primarily be for Metro buses and AU shuttles, but also for cars picking up and dropping off passengers.

Unlike the other options, this one significantly reduces the number of crosswalks available to pedestrians trying to navigate the circle. According to DDOT’s analysis, it’s the only one that would have a negative effect on safety for pedestrians and motorists.

This option would also reduce the amount of green space in the intersection and leave the Artemis Ward statue without a home.

Option 4: Keep the circle as it is now, but add more traffic signals

The final option would make the fewest physical changes to the circle as it is now. Instead, it would simply add traffic signals to the Massachusetts Avenue entrances to the circle and improve signs and paint in the interior lanes to make it more clear that it is is illegal to make a left turn from them.

While this option would make the circle safer for pedestrians and cyclists crossing Massachusetts Avenue, it might not stop drivers from making illegal turns into the roundabout from the two interior lanes.

Could the green space get more attention here?

While some of these redesigns move in the right direction, it would be great to see DDOT work with the National Park Service to make the green space in Ward Circle usable for residents, students, and employees in the area.

Dupont Circle and DDOT’s redesign of Thomas Circle in 2006 are great examples to look at. While the area surrounding Ward Circle is more suburban than Dupont and Thomas Circles, long-term developments at the old Superfresh site and the Spring Valley Shopping Centre up the street are aiming to make it denser and more walkable. An accessible and useable green space in Ward Circle could serve these future communities and make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate the intersection.

Until then, making Ward Circle easy and safe to traverse for pedestrians and cyclists is critical. In that regard, options one and four would be an improvement from the current set up and leave room for further development in the future.

Residents can submit comments on the proposed designs at DDOT’s Ward Circle project website or by emailing Ted van Houten, DDOT transportation planner, at theodore.vanhouten@dc.gov. DDOT is scheduled to begin taking the next steps on designing and building this coming spring.

On a recent trip to France, I had my eyes open for smart design. Three cities in particular were full of examples of how to make streets for people rather than cars. Here’s what I noticed.

Rue de Trois Cailloux, a pedestrian street in Amiens, France. All photos by the author.

First, a small bit of context: the cities I visited were Amiens, Rouen, and Chartres, three regional capitals in northern France. Amiens and Rouen each have a little over 100,000 people, while Chartres has about 40,000. Here’s where they are in relation to the rest of the country:

Image from Google Maps.

1. Amiens

Amiens is a small city known for its soaring Gothic cathedral, which is the tallest completed cathedral in France. The cathedral was built to house a relic— a piece of John the Baptist’s skull— and was built at such a grand scale to accommodate pilgrims who would come to see it. In Amiens, a large pedestrian street (Rue de Cailloux) cuts through the heart of the city, taking you through rows of trees and water features and past stores, bakeries, banks, and more.

At points, Rue de Cailloux intersects streets carrying car traffic, but the roads narrow so much at these intersections that instead of pedestrians waiting for a break in cars to cross, the cars had to wait for a break in the people walking to drive through.

Intersection of Amiens’ pedestrian street with traffic.

When my mom and I arrived, we got stuck in a long line of traffic; I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was because of the significant volume of pedestrians milling across an intersection like the one pictured below.

Cyclists wind down a street in Amiens.

2. Rouen

Rouen is another city known for its beautiful Gothic cathedral, which was painted by Claude Monet. A brief stop in Rouen to see the cathedral also meant stumbling onto a similar street. The Rue de General Leclerc in Rouen runs through the center of town and consists of two designated bus lanes flanked by a lane for pedestrians and cyclists.

Compared to Amiens, this pedestrian- and transit-oriented street wasn’t as bustling or green. Tourists seemed confused about where to walk and the few passing bicyclists would swerve into the bus lanes, which are separated by a low gutter rather than a steep curb. But the bus passengers waiting at stops up and down the street showed that the design provides a useful alternative for bus transit compared with the traffic-heavy streets surrounding Rue de General Leclerc.

3. Chartres

Chartres, a suburb about an hour and a half outside of Paris, is a delightful medieval town crowned with yet another awe-inspiring Gothic cathedral at its heart. The cathedral soars above the small medieval town below it, whose buildings are generally only three or fours stories and whose streets are often only just wide enough to accommodate a car.

Ultimately, the grand structure serves to put the human scale of the medieval town center into perspective. And the automated bollard system set up throughout this center limits the presence of cars, meaning you can stroll the streets and ponder that difference of scale in peace.

When cars do appear on the winding, narrow roads of Chartres centre ville, they share the space with pedestrians and cyclists.

Is our region full of towns woven through with small medieval streets? No. But that doesn’t mean cities like it can’t learn from the scale and prioritization put forth by cities like Amiens, Rouen, and Chartres (plus, Annapolis is pretty close).

Given that the Arlington County Board recently approved pedestrian-only streets, and that such streets in other cities have been reversed due to low pedestrian traffic, these French examples give us good fodder to consider what makes or breaks a street that is not primarily used by cars.

The primary key to a successful pedestrian street, it would seem, is a city that designs streets so that pedestrians feel safe and welcome. As Arlington moves forward with their plan, it will be interesting to see how they implement parallel plans to encourage walking and biking, and therefore the success of their newly approved car-free zones.